The final session of the MCF Foundation’s campaign was held on Tuesday, sponsored by Pinturas Andalucía, for the boys and girls in Málaga Club de Fútbol’s Academy, along with their families.
The protagonists this time were the Under-10s (Benjamín) and Under-9s (Prebenjamín) within Blue and Whites grassroots football. Together with their families, they listened intently to the advice and stories told by the ambassadors.
Goitia kicked off the proceedings, former Málaga CF goalkeeper and coach at The Academy. He stressed the importance of “training children from a very young age”. Iñaki explained: "Not only at home and at school, but in those areas where they feel comfortable and enjoy themselves, that’s when we can teach them more values.” Having been part of various teams, he has had many coaches and teammates along the way. As such, Iñaki talks about the importance of respecting coaches, teammates, masseurs, kit managers and other members of staff. “It’s important to study, respect your teammates, acquire different concepts of commitment, humility and sacrifice within the groups and pay attention to the coaches, who are highly qualified, especially at those ages,” he said to those attending the virtual meeting.
Josemi talked about how beneficial it was for him to start training from an early age. “The values that my parents taught me are humility and hard work, which were instilled in me when I was little.” Furthermore, this helped him to strive for more, and be consistent and responsible. “I wasn’t the best, but I was the one who worked the hardest, the one who respected training the most, as well as rest and nutrition, and the one who continued to study," said the Champions League champion.
Iznata, for his part, as well as addressing the topics discussed by the other guests, wanted to talk to the children’s parents. He encouraged them to urge the kids to work hard, compete and want to win, but make football enjoyable. To do this, Raúl explained his experience: “When I was younger, I often felt bad if I didn’t play well as my father would get angry. That upset me. Now I’m older, I think I was playing to please my father, and a lot of the time I wasn’t enjoying it.”
Also attending the meeting was head of marketing at Pinturas Andalucía, Manuel Espiritusanto. Together with Lucas Rodríguez, he talked about the importance of the event, and hopes that next season they can take place at La Rosaleda in person.
Malaguismo and values always go hand in hand. See you next season!
